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XieJi-Li
FEWARE OF KIDNEY DAMAGE
DUE
TO
TRADITIONAL
CHINESE MEDICINE
HERBS
For
many years, there was
a
very
inappropriate belief that TCM
herbs
have
little or
no
toxicity.
The worst
is
the failure to recognize
kidney
toxicity
due to herbs.
Recently,
there were quite
a
number
of
definite and serious reports
on such kidney toxicity due
to
herbs.
Once, there was a nursing mother who
took
mu tong
to induce
more milk pro-
duction but, instead, she
developed
acute kidney failure
and
required dialy-
sis to save her
life.
Many over-weight
people
have taken
TCM
"potions"
that
actually contained aristolochic acid to
lose
weight.
ln Belgium, up to the
year
1
998,
there were
as
many as
'100
cases
of kidney failure due to aristolochic acid
-
1/3 of
these actually required
kidney
transplant. ln Beijing, similar cases are
also reporled. A book on Chinese "ma-
teria medica" had listed
30 different
kinds
of
kidney-toxic herbs. Mu
tong
is
a
TCM
herb
for
the
urinary and circula-
tory
systems.
The daily
recommended
dose is only 3-6 grams.
Mu
tong also
contains aristolochic
acid
that damages
the
kidney.
Patients with underlying kid-
ney disease
should
be particularly
careful, as
even
the normal dose of
mu
tong
may damage
the
kidneys
irreversibly.
We should
never
take for
granted
any
hearsay on magic "potions"
as, sometimes, even
qualified
physi-
cians may
be
caught
if
they are
not
vigi-
lant enough.
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